Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/100

 The Book of Coicsis

82.

the eartii,

but whose arch spans Ciod's heaven.

rainbow, which bridges heaven and earth,

tells

Thus

the

us thai

al-

though we live on earth, we may still, through righteousness, walk with God. It bids us hope and rejoice, for Go4's covenant is with us, too, if only, like Noah, we strive to be righteous and w^holehearted in our generation. The fundamental Jewish

expressed

principles

emphasized

the

in

and

story,

therefore

the

cordingly,

God's justice and love, the life which He has ordained should live, the sin in departing therefrom, the evil and

that

man

thoughts

to

l::e

in

presenting

are

it,

ac-

consequences of sin, and the possibility of repentance, in His love, ever holds out to man. True, these are really thoughts and doctrines to be rightly comprehended only by mature minds. But there is very much in the story, and in the sorrow^ful

which God,

brought home and which will help to lay a hrm foundation of Jewish righteousness, and teach them to look out upon life through Jewish eyes, and to face its temptations and solve its problems wath the strong support of Jewish

accompanying

rabbinical

and

convincingly

which

illustration,

even

constructively,

to

can

be

children,

character.

hi presenting the story the teacher should emphasize

positive

its

Something must, of course, be said of the sinfulness of the people and of the awfulness of their doom, and the children should be made to feel real horror at the very thought of sin. But much more emphasis should be laid upon the positive ideas of God's wise and loving purpose for man, Noah's righteousness and God's pleasure therein, God's covenant, and the promise of the new and purified lessons.

human race. The teacher should

upon such inconsequential and manner in which She must feel the poetic and spiritual con-

dwell but

little

prosaic details as the dimensions of the ark, and the the animals

came

tent of the story,

incidents

may

into

it.

and bring the children

to feel this

with her.

dove returning with the olive

leaf,

the almost universal

symi;ol of

peace, brotherhood, cooperation, and industry, the virtues which to

the

the

new

destroyed

race.

characterize old,

race,

in

Many

contrast to the

cited

in

sins

and

were

vices

of

from the rabbis, illustrating various compendia of rabl)inical

tales

these thoughts can be found in the stories

Some

well be elaborated, as, for example, the incident of the

the bibliography.

Although long, the story

is

a unit.

It

should, therefore, always